Beverage dispensing faucet



Juiy 25, 1967 H. H. HARR BEVERAGE DISPENSING FAUCET Filed May 24, 1965INVENTOR HERMAN H. HARE BY 7 A TTOR/VEY United States Patent M 3,332,444BEVERAGE DISPENSING FAUCET Herman H. Harr, 238 Fells Road, Essex Feils,NJ. 07021 Filed May 24, 1965, Ser. No. 457,945 2 Claims. (Cl.137---625.4)

This application is a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser.No. 324,069, filed on Nov. 15, 1963 by Herman H. Harr, and now PatentNo. 3,204,830 granted Sept. 7, 1965.

The present invention deals with a faucet for dispensing beveragescontaining carbonated water and syrup. More specifically, it deals witha dispensing faucet wherein a handle moves a valve slide having avertical opening which, when in proper position, permits flowtherethrough of flavored syrup, and also permits carbonated water toflow axially with respect to said slide and to mix with said syrupbefore it reaches the container into which the drink or beverage isdispensed. The invention herein pertains to a downwardly-directed shorttube inserted in the outlet opening of the slide for the purpose ofminimizing greatly the foaming of the beverage.

There have been a number of dispensing faucets disclosed in the artwherein a slide releases a flow of flavored syrup to commingle with anaxially-directed flow of carbonated water. For example, US. Patents2,416,581 and 2,578,543 disclose such faucets. One difficultyexperienced with such faucets has been the excessive foaming of thebeverage as it is being dispensed. The flavored syrup usually containsfoaming agents, such as essential oils, sugar, etc., and when thecarbonated water strikes this syrup, as it impinges the syrup stream atright angles, considerable swirling occurs, and this, together with theeffect of the foaming accelerators, produces a great liberation ofcarbon dioxide. This effect, of course, reduces the amount of dissolvedcarbonation in the beverage, thereby resulting in a drink of reducedpalatability and a tendency toward flatness. This effect is particularlynoticeable in the case of chocolate syrup drinks, since the presence ofbutter fat and the other foaming accelerators greatly slows down thefilling of the beverage glass at the counter, and also often requirescombing off to the foam from the top of the glass.

It has been observed that the liberation of carbon dioxide from acarbonated liquid is somewhat of a chain reaction. The more the foamliberation, the greater is the initiation of further foam formation, sothat it is highly important to reduce the foaming at impact to the leastpossible degree.

According to the present invention, the foaming at impact is reducedconsiderably by insertion into the valve slide opening of a short tubewhich deflects the effect of the carbonated water stream from the syrupstream, so that both streams are flowing in the same direction at themoment of impingement. In such a case, the carbonated water has passedthe area of turbulence and both streams glide by as they mix graduallywithout the strong agitation which otherwise would occur. Provision mustbe made for removal of this tube prior to assembly of the valve andaccessible space sould be provided at the faucet outlet to permitinsertion of the tube into the valve slide opening after assembly of thevalve.

The invention will be more readily understood by reference to theaccompanying drawing in which a preferred embodiment is described, andin which FIGURE 1 presents a cross-sectional side view of a faucet ofthe present invention in shut-off position. FIGURES 2 and 3 are sideviews of the valve slide and portions of co-acting valve parts of thefaucet of FIGURE 1, the slide in waterdispensing and syrup andwater-dispensing positions, respectively. The same numerals refer tosimilar parts in the various figures.

3,332,444 Patented July 25, 1967 Referring again to the drawing, numeral29 refers to a housing made of metal or plastic, preferably the latter,which housing is connected to a threaded charged water inlet 35. Thefaucet has an outlet 33 disposed at right angles to the main body 29. Italso has a handle opening and extension 36, a concentrate (syrup) inletextension and opening 37, and a dummy opening 38, which is normallyclosed off with" plug 39. The handle opening 36 connects withcylindrical bore 40 in which latter may reciprocate the valve slide,indicated generally as 41.

Valve slide 41, riding in bore 40, in close-fitting relation, iscylindrical in cross-section, and is provided with a vertical slot orhole 42 which accommodates end 43 of lever arm 44, attached to ball 45riding in socket 46. Ball 45 is held in place against its socket, insealing relation, by spring 47 which, in turn, is held in place bythreaded cap 48 which is screwed onto the threads of housing extension36. Handle 32 is screwed onto screw 49 projecting from ball 45.

Valve slide 41 is narrowed slightly at its middle portion and, directlyunder extension and opening 37, it is flattened on top to give a flatsliding surface 50 on which slides gasketed end 51 of the lower portion52 of syrup feed line or tube 53. Gland member 54 screwed into theopening of extension 37 seats on shoulder 55 and also on O- ring 56which latter seals it with respect to the opening of extension 37. Aspring (not shown) between gland member 54 and shoulder 55 maintains aconstant thrust of gasketed end 51 on surface 50, in liquid sealingrelation therewith.

Valve slide 41 terminates at the faucet water inlet end with enlargedend 57, the outer edge of which is provided with a seating shoulderlined with gasket 58, which latter seats in sealing relation againstring 59 projecting from the inner wall of the faucet body. A verticalhole 60, connectable with the hole in tube end 52, is drilled throughvalve slide 41.

Into the bottom of hole 60 is inserted closely-fitting short tube 61which extends into and within the space circumscribed by faucet outlet33. This tube may be inserted into hole 60 by use of a long-nosed pliersintroduced through outlet 61 after slide 41 has been assembled inhousing 29.

Tube 53 may be connected with flexible tube 31, at angle 30, and tube 53extends to and connects With a drain nipple of a syrup reservoir (notshown).

Connected to threaded end 35 of housing 2.9 is the water flow controlattachment, indicated generally by numeral 70. It consists of hollownipple 71 threaded on its interior to accommodate fastening bolts 72 forattaching the entire faucet into a hole of a counter support, forexample. One end of nipple '71 is provided with a shoulder 72 and agasket 74 for fastening, by means of union coupling 75, to end 35 ofhousing 29, in outside sealing relation therewith. The inner bore 76 ofnipple 71 is tapered to accommodate tapered plug 77 which has a largerround end 78 facing the interior of housing 29. A long screw 79 passingthrough the wall of housing 29 (in conventional O-ring sealing relationtherewith) is used to hold in position the larger end 78 of plug 77.

The other end 80 of nipple 71 is connected, by means of gasket and unioncoupling 82, to the end 28 of carbonated water line 83. A spring 84,disposed between gasket 81 and smaller circular end 85 of plug 77, urgesthe plug toward the inside of housing 29, which thrust is resisted byscrew 79. The purpose of plug 77 is to control the volume of carbonatedwater, the flow of which takes place between the inner wall 76 of nipple71 and the wall of plug 77. By turning screw 79, the space between thetwo walls may be altered to adjust the volume of water flowingtherebetween.

The inner wall of housing end 35 and outer wall of nipple end 90 areprovided with axially-directed intermeshable corrugations 91 whichprevent nipple 71 from turning independently of housing 29.

In operation, when the faucet handle 32 is pushed all the way to theleft, as in FIGURE 1, gasket 58 seats against ring 59, thus preventingcharged water from flowing through housing 29, so that no water would bedispensed through outlet 33. Also, since the opening of tube 53 atgasketed end 51 is sealed off by fiat surface 50 of valve slide 41, nosyrup is dispensed through tube 61, either. In other words, the faucetis completely shut off. By moving handle 32 to the right so that slide41 is in the position as in FIGURE 2, it will be noted that gasket 58 ispushed away from sealing position against ring 59, thereby permittingwater to pass past the ring, as indicated by the arrow. However, theopening of tube 53 is still closed off at gasketed end 51 by flatsurface 50 of slide 41, so that no syrup leaves tube 61, and only wateris dispensed through outlet 33.

Then, as handle 32 is moved completely to the right, the valve slide 41is in the position as shown in FIGURE 3. In this case, the openings oftubes 53 and 61 are practically superimposed, so that syrup flows out oftube 31 and 61, and into the space circumscribed by outlet 33. Also,since gasket 58 also is moved away from its sealing seat 59, it isapparent that, in this position, the faucet dispenses both Water andsyrup. One important feature of this faucet is that, during thedispensing, water always precedes the syrup flow and just prior toshut-off, water is the last to be shut off, so that all syrup is washedoff before and after dispensing, making the faucet self-cleaning.

It will be noted that the axially-directed stream of carbonated waterchanges direction to a right-angled turn at outlet 33. Since tube 61carries the syrup past the area of axial flow of water and into thespace circumscribed by outlet 33, the carbonated water and syrupstreams, at impact, are flowing in parallel relation to each other, andthus foaming is greatly minimized.

For a 1" size faucet, the slide 29 crosswise the flat portion wouldmeasure about Hole 60 can have a diameter of about which would be theapproximate outside diameter of tube 61, although the bottom portion ofhole 69 can be enlarged to take a tube having an outside diameter of inwhich case the tube 61 can have the same inner diameter as that of hole60. Since outlet 33 would be about A long, tube 61 can extend belowslide 29 for a distance of about hi to about A". In order to reduce thewidth of the beverage stream leaving outlet 33, it is desirable toinsert a removable inner sleeve which can reduce outlet diameter from,say about to say,

about I claim: 1. A carbonated water and syrup beverage dispensingfaucet of the type described, comprising in combination,

an elongated hollow body,

a movable valve slide axially disposed within said body and having ashut off means at its end for opening or closing off an axially-directedflow of carbonated water around said slide, and having a central portionprovided with a flat slide upper surface,

a syrup feed line led through said body in outside sealing relation andhaving a flat end terminating within said body and disposed to slide onsaid fiat surface in liquid sealing relation,

an outlet disposed in said body at right angles to the the axis thereofand positioned opposite said syrup feed line,

a vertical hole disposed in said flattened area and through said slideand connectable through movement of said slide, with said syrup feedline end in liquid sealing relation, and

a tube projecting from the bottom of said hole and extending into thearea circumscribed by said outlet.

said slide hole and end shut-off means being positioned in a manner suchthat when the slide is moved in one direction, the shut-off means isopened, then, on further movement of said slide, the syrup feed line endis disposed in alignment with said hole so that both water and syrup aredispensed.

2. A beverage dispensing faucet according to claim 1,

in which the inner diameter of said tube has the same diameter as thatof said hole.

No references cited.

M. CARY NELSON, Primary Examiner.

J. R. DWELLE, Assistant Examiner.

1. A CARBONATED WATER AND SYRUP BEVERAGE DISPENSING FAUCET OF THE TYPEDESCRIBED, COMPRISING IN COMBINATION AN ELONGATED HOLLOW BODY, A MOVABLEVALVE SLIDE AXIALLY DISPOSED WITHIN SAID BODY AND HAVING A SHUT OFFMEANS AT ITS END FOR OPENING OR CLOSING OFF AN AXIALLY-DIRECTED FLOW OFCARBONATED WATER AROUND SAID SLIDE, AND HAVING A CENTRAL PORTIONPROVIDED WITH A FLAT SLIDE UPPER SURFACE, A SYRUP FEED LINE LED THROUGHSAID BODY IN OUTSIDE SEALING RELATION AND HAVING A FLAT END TERMINATINGWITHIN SAID BODY AND DISPOSED TO SLIDE ON SAID FLAT SURFACE IN LIQUIDSEALING RELATION, AN OUTLET DISPOSED IN SAID BODY AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THETHE AXIS THEREOF AND POSITIONED OPPOSITE SAID SYRUP FEED LINE, AVERTICAL HOLE DISPOSED IN SAID FLATTENED AREA AND THROUGH SAID SLIDE ANDCONNECTABLE THROUGH MOVEMENT OF SAID SLIDE, WITH SAID SYRUP FEED LINEEND IN LIQUID SEALING RELATION, AND A TUBE PROJECTING FROM THE BOTTOM OFSAID HOLE AND EXTENDING INTO THE AREA CIRCUMSCRIBED BY SAID OUTLET, SAIDSLIDE HOLE AND END SHUT-OFF MEANS BEING POSITIONED IN A MANNER SUCH THATWHEN THE SLIDE IS MOVED IN ONE DIRECTION THE SHUT-OFF MEANS IS OPENED,THEN, ON FURTHER MOVEMENT OF SAID SLIDE, THE SYRUP FEED LINE END ISDISPOSED IN ALIGNMENT WITH SAID HOLE SO THAT BOTH WATER AND SYRUP AREDISPENSED.